Nate Torrence sweet on Peeps and 'Mr. Sunshine'

Rising actor is nephew of former Just Born president

February 18, 2011|By Amy Longsdorf, Special to The Morning Call

Torrence can relate to workplace insanity because he's had his share of weird jobs. While in college at Kent State, he was a janitor at a fitness center each night from midnight to three. "It was kind of disgusting," he admits. "After cleaning the place for a year, I never worked out there again."

A natural comedian who was telling jokes by the time he was 5 years old, Torrence left Kent State after a year to train at Chicago's Second City, the improv arena that also nurtured Bill Murray, Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Gilda Radner, Steve Carell and Tina Fey.

It was Torrence's high-school sweetheart Christie who finally urged Nate to make the big move to Los Angeles. "For our first year wedding anniversary, she bought me a map of L.A.," recalls Torrence. "She said, 'Cmon, let's do it.' "

When they first arrived in Hollywood, Christie worked as a temp to keep the couple afloat while Nate earned money on game shows ($2,700 on "Street Smarts" and $500 on "Hollywood Squares.") But within three months, he had an agent and three months later, he began landing national commercials.

After seeing Torrence on "The View," Adam Sandler offered him a role (that was subsequently cut) in "Click" and introduced him to director Pete Segal, who later cast Torrence in his breakthrough role in "Get Smart."

Amazingly given his love for all things Just Born, Torrence has never visited his uncle in the Lehigh Valley. He came close when he shot "She's Out of My League" in Pittsburgh and, on another occasion, when he, his wife and their two children (ages 6 and 3) considering road tripping it from Ohio to Pennsylvania.

These days, though, Torrence is too busy to travel. While all 13 episodes of "Mr. Sunshine" have been shot and are ready to air, the actor continues to land film and TV work.

Recently, Torrence shot a scene with one his comedy idols, Steve Martin, in the upcoming feature "The Big Year," and he's doing a voice for "Motor City," a Disney cartoon series that's ramping up for a 2012 broadcast.

"It's really an awesome time," says Torrence. "I'm thankful. It's a bit overwhelming. Even a year ago, when I had 'She's Out of My League' coming out, I was wondering where the next job was coming from.

"But having Matthew select me for this series gave me a lot of street cred. I feel like ABC and Sony TV have my back. I wouldn't be surprised if I continued working with them. And that's all an actor can hope for. I'm basically smiling all the time."